harvey



ATENT OFFICE.

THOS. W. HARVEY, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

MACHINE .FOR HEADING SCREW-BLANKS.

To all whom z'tmag/ concern.'

Be it known that I, THOMAS W. HARVEY, of the city of New York, in theState of New York, have invented certain new and useful improvements inmachinery for preparing blanks for forming screws of iron and othermetal, commonly denominated wood-screws, said blanks being prepared bythe cutting of wire into Suitable lengths, and the forming of headsthereon; and I. do hereby declare that the following is a full and exactdescription thereof.

In my machine for cutting off the wires, and for forming the headsthereon, preparatory to the other operations necessary to the perfectingof wood screws, the wire is fed into the machine from two coils, fromeach of which 'a wire is alternately cut and headed by the two cuttersand one heading punch, the feeding in of one wire being in progresswhile the head is being formed on that previously fedin; an arrangementby which much time is saved, and the heading is more effectivelyperformed. i

In the accompanying drawings, Figure l is a perspective view of mymachine showing the front, or feeding end thereof, and the side to theright hand of said feeding end. Fig. 2 is an elevation of the feedingendgF ig. 3 is a perspective viewl of the side and end opposite to thoseshown in Fig. l. Fig. 4 represents the inner side of the rear head orend of the machine, and Fig. 5, a view of the inner side of the fronthead, to` gether with the die holder and dies, the gripping segmentsthat act on said dies, and other parts connected therewith, and 4to bepresently described.

In each of these figures where the same parts are represented, they yaredesignated by the same letters of reference.

A, is the main driving shaft, to which the motive power is to beapplied. This at its center has a crank B, that operates the slide D, ofthe adjustable heading punch, by means of the connecting link E, bywhich it is connected with the toggle-joints F, F. On the shaftV A,there are also two grooved cams C, and C, that operate the several rockshafts which give the requisite motion to various parts of the machine.'The first series of these motions that I'will describe, are those thatgovern the feeding in of the wire.

G, Gr, are the reels that contain the coils of wire, which wire rstpasses between straightening rollers H, H, as in other machines for alike purpose. As two wires are to be fed in on opposite sides of thecenter, the apparatus for that purpose is repeated on both sides of themachine, with the difference only that the operating parts are soarranged as to act alternately, th wire on one side being fed in while ablank is being headed on the opposite side. The situation of the cutter,and of the dies, into which the wire is fed, are also shown in Fig. 6,and designated by their appropriate let-ters. The cams C, and C, (Figs.vl and 3,) are each furnished wit-h a double groove a, a., and b, b,which are conjoined by grooves c, c, crossing the lateral grooves asseen in Fig. l. From the straightening rollers the wire passes betweentwo feeding wheels, seen at cl, CZ, Fig. 2, the uppermost of these isnot in fact a wheel, but is a segment of a wheel; this is made tovibrate so as to feed in the wire, and the lowermost wheel is borne upagainst it by spiral, o-r other springs, so as to cause it to clasp thewire firmly.

I, I', are two'rock shafts that govern the feeding apparatus, and areotherwise connected with the moving parts. The arms J, J, on theseshafts have on them broad cam pins, or guide pieces, a', a, that swivelin the arms and enter the grooves a, a, b, b, on the cams C, C; theseguide pieces may be two or three inches wide, so as to have a goodbea-ring, and to insure their correct action in the crossing grooves.The shaft I, has attached to its fore end,thevarm K, which is connectedby means of the jointed rod L, (Fig. 2,) to the vibrating lever M, thateffects the feeding on each side of the machine; this lever is connectedby the links e, e, to guide rods 7, f, that slide up and down insuitable sockets affixed to the frame; these guide rods are attached to,and car with them, the rods g, g, that move the shafts L, 71., of theupper feeding wheels (Z, (or rather segment of a wheel) to a suliicientextent to carry in a suitable length of wire. The rods g, g, are made,adjustable on the arms e', vl, that are attached to the shafts h, whichthey vibrate. The rod L, is also adjustable on the arm K, and ,onthelever M, thejoint pieces j, j, (Figs. 1 and 2) being movable inslots onthe arm K, and in the lever M, in Iorder. to regulate the lfeed bydetermining the distance to which the upper feeding wheels, or segments,on the shafts It, shall vibrate.

The rock shaft I', serves to give avertical motion to the lower feedingwheels, which have to be relieved from their pressure on the upperfeeding wheel, or segment, when it is moved back to feed in a freshlength of wire. The manner of raising and depressing these wheels cannotbe fully seen in either of the figures referred to, but is in part shownin Fig. 6, which is a side view of said wheels and parts connectedtherewith in the line m m of Fig. 2. In this figure, CZ is one of theupper, or segment feeding wheels aliXed on the vibrating shaft Z2', andcZ', is one of the lower feeding wheels, which is sustained by, andturns on a pivot on the arm la, that works on a joint pin at its rearend; Z is a rod that bears by means of a spiral spring on the outer endof the arm ZS, and presses the wheel CZ', against the segment CZ; therebeing a similar arrangement on each side of the machine. The rods Z, Z,are shown also in Figs. l and 2, and they are operated on in thefollowing manner. The spiral springs m, m, keep the lower feeding wheelsagainst the upper, when not relieved by being forced down, which is'done by the action of the rock shaft I'. This has a short arm or crankpin N, (Figs. l and 2) on its outer end, which carries the connectingrod O, that rocks the vibrating lever I), to a short distance, the armQ, being made fast to the rear side of said lever, or to the hub withwhich it turns. As the springs m, m, are alternately depressed by therocking of the lever P, the pressure is taken o from each of the wiresin succession, thistaking place at the instant the segment wheel cZ, isreturning `to feed in a new portion of wire. When a new wire is to bepassed into the machine while it is in operation, the lower feedingwheels CZ', may be depressed by placing a foot on the treadles n, n,that draw on the stirrups n' n Fig. l.

In Fig. 5, 0, o' are the dies that embrace the wire and form the head.The die holder R, traverses back and forth to receive a new length ofwire, and to carry each die into a line with the heading punch. Thevibrating segment pieces S, S, hold the dies firmly together during theprocess of heading; they are made adjustable so as always to operatecorrectly. These segments are moved back and forth by the sliding of theholder R, there being pins, or teeth on them that take into the edges ofthe holder. The

holder is vibra-ted in the Vfollowing manner.

T, Fig'. l, is a rock shaft that is opera-ted on by the arm U; the camC', serving to give motion to the arm U, just as it does to the arm J.The rock shaft T, carries the arm V (Figs. l and 5) which vibrate theholder R, by means of the connecting link V', as shown in the drawing. v

W, WV are gripping tumblers that open and close the dies 0', 0', foradmitting the wire for a fresh blank, and at the same time liberatingthe one justfinished, and to close upon the wire when a fresh blank iscut 01T by the shears. The dies 0, 0', are of a thickness equal t-o thelength of. the intended blank, and each pair may undergo four` changesof position, one half of the circular opening that is to receive thewire being formed on each of their sides. The gripping tumblers W, W,are shown as embracing the rods X, X, that make a part of the side frameof the machine, being secured to the heads by screw-nuts. These tumblersmove freely round on said rods, and are operated in 'the followingmanner.

Y, Y, are two rockshafts' that pass from end to end of the frame of themachine, and these are vibrated by the arm J, which turns loosely on therock shaft I', Fig. l; the manner of connecting the arm J, with the rockshafts Y, Y, is distinctly shown in Fig. 4. A bar p, is connected by ajoint pin to the arm J, and at its other end to the arm g, attached toone of the rock shafts Y,

and this is in like manner connected to the` other rock shaft Y, bymeans of a joint piece 7^, and the arm g'. To the opposite ends of theshafts Y, Y, are attached, by crank pins, the rods s, s 5,) that operatethe tumblers W, W, at the proper time for the alternate opening andclosing of the dies o', o', said dies working on a joint pin c. The dieso', 0', are alternately opened to a very small distance, by the hornse', e', Fig. 5, being alternately brought, by the sliding motion of thedie holder R, into contact with the projecting lifters f', f', on thegripping tumblers W, W.

The cutting oft' of the wire is eected as in other heading machines, butas the feeding is double, provision is of course made for this, on bothsides of the machine.

2f, t', Fig. 5, are the cutters that vibrate on joint pins u, the wirebeing received within the hole fu, on its way to the dies. The cutters,and the apparatus by which they are moved, is in part shown in Figs. 1,and 3. The cutters are moved in the following manner.

Z, Figs. 3 and 5, is a rock shaft that is vibrated by the cam C,operating on the arm A', in the same way in which the shaft I, isvibrated by the arm J 0n the opposite end of Z, is the arm B', aconnecting link C", (Fig. 5,) attached to this arm, operates one of thecut-ters.

From the arm B', a connecting rod D', extends across to an arm E',(Figs. l and 5) on the rock shaft I', to which it is made fast; from thearm E', a long connecting link F, extends up to, and operates thelsecond cutter t. At the time when the wire is fed in, the hole ocoincides with that of the die into which it is to pass, and when in,the cutter receives suflicient motion to cut it olf. During thisoperation, the wire which was fed in on the opposite side is beingheaded. The die holder R, is then made to slide so as to bring the cutoff wire opposite to the heading punch, and the other gripping die isthen so situated as to receive a new length, which is in like manner cutoff, and then carried to the heading punch, and so on alternately. Thefeeding in of the wire discharges the headed blank.

Under vthe herein described combination and arrangement of the differentparts of this machine, all the motions required in performing therespective operations with the exception of that of the heading punchare derived from two cams C, and C, which are similar, and, it isbelieved, new in their construction; said cams being placed on the endsof the main driving, or crank shaft A. The motions which operate thepart-s on one side are, by vibrating levers, and connecting barstransferred to the opposite side, and are alternate in their operation.The motions for the respective op erations are all performed in the samespace of time, to wit, that required for a quart-er revolution of themain shaft. There are four principal motions, exclusive of that of theheading punch, performed in succession-all of which are derived from thecams C', C, and from the nature of such mot-ions they might all beobtained from a single cam, by placing cam pins at four different pointson the circumference thereof; but to prevent crowding and to distributethe rock shafts in the most advantageous manner, the use of two suchcams is preferred, one on each side of the machine, and each of themmade to govern two of the four motions.

To provide for the double feeding of the wire, the die holder, it willhave been seen, is furnished with two sets of dies, which traverse sofar back and forth that when the operation of heading is being performedupon one wire, the other die will be opposite to the point where thewire is fed in, this feeding being effected simultaneously with I theheading. In the cutting off process, the

motion that cuts the wire on one side raises the cutter also on theopposite side in readiness for the operation of cutting, and so o-nalternately. And in like manner the motionv on one side by which thefeeding is eected,

is accompanied by that on the other by which the segment feeding wheelis returned to a position ready to feed in on the other side, and thesame remarks may be applied to the other alternating motions.

In the heading machine as ordinarily constructed, where a single wire isfed in, all the motions have to be successive, and in order to operatewith the requisite dispatch,

t-hese motions have to be performed with inconvenient speed, and thework is consequently less perfectly performed than when more time isallowed. By the double feed-y ing in my plan, the movements are allrendered easy, and lthe heading punch may therefore be vmade to act withsuch a degree of speed as will nearly approach the nature of a blow witha hammer, the effect of which is to produce a vibratory mot-ion amongthe particles of metal, which is favorable to the soundness andperfection of the head.

Having thus fully described the manner in which I construct my machinefor preparing the blanks for the formation of wood screws, and which mayalso be applied to the forming of rivets, and other articles of a likenature, what I claim therein as new, and

desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. The manner herein'set forth of producing the respective alternatingmotions necessary to the double feeding, by combining the respectivearms U, J, and A, J,

with the cams C, and C, having grooves crossing each other; said camscarrying swiveling cam pins, and operating the rock shafts T, I', Z, andI, which shafts are connected with the respective operating parts of themachine, with the exception of the heading die, substantially in themanner herein made known, and this I claim whether said motions beeffected by one or more cams of the kind herein described, while theoperating parts are substantially the same in their arrangement andaction with those herein described and delineated.`

2. I also claim the arrangement and combination with the cams C, C, andwith the respective rock shafts and single heading punch, of the doubleacting apparatus, consisting of the feeding wheels and segments THOS.IV. HARVEY. Witnesses A. P. HAWLEY, VILLARD HARVEY.

